#76 King Place

How can it be that a schleppy little home of Styrofoam and microwaves in a stripmall at Sherbourne and Dundas serves some of the best Indo-Pakistani food in Toronto? From 11 a.m. till 6 a.m. seven days a week the Pakistani diner dishes it up delectable. You order at the counter; Mr. Butt (the owner’s nom de plume) microwaves it and you can take out or eat in. The flavours are astonishingly vivid. The lowly lentil sings a symphony on the tongue thanks to long sauteed oily onions and strong spicing. Palak paneer is the usual fresh cheese in curried spinach, but better, thanks to jazzy spicing and young ginger shards on top. Okra goes glam in a rich complex curry and even the ordinary — lamb curry — has more flavour here than elsewhere. Beef nihari is another winner — tender beef shank sauced with buttery curry, deep dark sauted onions, lemon, garlic, ginger and chiles.